Quadrature Capital Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 45.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Royal Gold by 6.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,595,734 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $559,807,000 after acquiring an additional 292,357 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,696,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 12,032.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,219,000 after acquiring an additional 182,171 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $20,675,000. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,733,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of RGLD traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $135.09. The stock had a trading volume of 250,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,819. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.16. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.55 and a 12-month high of $140.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $148.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.02 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 38.12% and a return on equity of 7.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.73, for a total value of $196,095.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,940,033.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RGLD shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $129.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Cibc World Mkts raised Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. CIBC lifted their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.75.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, acquires and manages precious metal streams, royalties, and related interests. The company engages in acquiring stream and royalty interests or to finance projects that are in production, development, or in the exploration stage in exchange for stream or royalty interests, which primarily consists of gold, silver, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, and other metals.